The Royal Thai Air Force deployed F-16 fighter jets over the Thai-Cambodian border. Their job is simple: find Cambodian artillery guns that have been shelling Thai soil and put them out of action.
The latest round of fighting broke out early Monday morning in the jungles and hills near the famous Preah Vihear temple. Each side tells a very different story.
What Thailand Says
A Thai army spokesman, Colonel Winthai Suvaree, said Cambodian troops opened fire first with rifles, machine guns, and rockets. One Thai soldier was killed, and four others were wounded.
After that, he said, Thailand decided it had to hit back hard.
“Thailand is now using aircraft to strike military targets inside Cambodia,” Colonel Winthai told reporters.
“We are doing this to stop the attacks on our soldiers and our villages. ”Thailand also claims Cambodian forces fired powerful BM-21 rocket launchers toward civilian areas in Buri Ram province. Luckily, no one was hurt there.
What Cambodia Says
Cambodia’s defense ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata said Thai forces launched an attack on Cambodian troops in the border provinces of Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey early Monday morning, accusing Thailand of “firing multiple shots with tanks at Tamone Thom temple” and other areas near Preah Vihear temple.
She said Cambodia did not retaliate.
Met Measpheakdey, a Cambodian spokesman for the Oddar Meanchey provincial administration, said gunfire was reported in the areas of the centuries-old Tamone Thom and Ta Krabei temples, and a “number of villagers who live near the border are fleeing to safety”.
The Human Cost So Far
- At least one Thai soldier is dead, and four are wounded.
- Tens of thousands of people were forced to leave their homes.
- Thailand says around 35,000 of its citizens have been moved out of the danger zone since the weekend.
The ceasefire had been patched together earlier this year with heavy diplomacy from the United States, China, and Malaysia — the last acting as ASEAN chair at the time.
Then, on 26 October 2025, at the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, US President Donald Trump personally co-signed the “Kuala Lumpur Peace Accord” alongside the Thai and Cambodian leaders. The deal extended the truce, opened the door to new trade agreements, and was widely hailed as a breakthrough — until it began to unravel just weeks later.
The root of the problem dates back more than 100 years. When France ruled Cambodia as a colony, it drew border lines that Thailand never fully accepted.
At the heart of the argument are a handful of ancient temples built between the 9th and 11th centuries. Both countries claim they own the land the temples sit on.
The most famous is the Preah Vihear temple. In 1962, the International Court of Justice ruled that it belongs to Cambodia, but the land immediately around it is still contested.
That deal fell apart last month when Thailand said its soldiers were injured by a landmine and blamed it on Cambodia.
- Via: AFP
- Edited By ET Online Desk
